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Issue #51

Issue #51 - September/October 2014 - alt-J

Sep 12, 2014

Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of the September/October issue, which is on newsstands now. It features alt-J on the cover. Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry does a joint interview with Peter Gabriel. We talk to Lush‘s Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson about their 1996 album, Lovelife. The issue also includes interviews with Interpol, Jessie Ware, Foxygen, Caribou, Belle and Sebastian‘s Stuart Murdoch, iconic film director Terry Gilliam, Gotham star Ben McKenzie, Zola Jesus, Hooray For Earth, Bear in Heaven, My Brightest Diamond, Twin Peaks, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Avi Buffalo, Garfunkel and Oates, Total Control, Adult Jazz, and more.

COVER STORY

The issue features an in-depth 10-page cover story on alt-J. We talk to the British three-piece about their much anticipated sophomore album, This Is All Yours, sampling Miley Cyrus, the band’s detailed history, why original bassist Gwil Sainsbury left the band, winning the Mercury Prize, why a certain bad review of their debut album still haunts them, and how they are really just nice average guys. The interview was conducted by Matt Fink and the band was photographed in London by Pal Hansen.

“I think I enjoyed how much [Pitchfork‘s reviewer] hated us. It wasn’t that she just disliked the music; she actually hated us. I thought that was really funny.” - Joe Newman of alt-J

“Essentially, if I could have asked for one thing for us to achieve as a band, it was to win a Mercury Prize.” - Gus Unger-Hamilton of alt-J

“We went back and forth with [the Miley Cyrus sample], purely because we didn’t want to give off the impression that we were trying to gain something from her massive celebrity status.” - Thom Green of alt-J

DETECTION

The front-of-book Detection section feature interviews with: Avi Buffalo, Bear in Heaven, Belle and Sebastian‘s Stuart Murdoch (on his feature film writing/directing debut God Help the Girl), Caribou, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Foxygen, Garfunkel and Oates (on their new IFC TV show), Terry Gilliam (the legendary film director and Monty Python member on his new film The Zero Theorem), Hooray For Earth, Ben McKenzie (who plays Jim Gordon on FOX’s Batman prequel TV show Gotham), My Brightest Diamond, Twin Peaks, Jessie Ware, and Zola Jesus.

“I feel like so many new bands go on tour and when they’re young they don’t stop, and that’s what leads them to a bad step.” - Avi Zahner-Isenberg of Avi Buffalo

“I feel like one day someone going to pull the veil and say, ‘Oh, it was a joke! You should have done something else with your time!’” - Jon Philpot of Bear in Heaven

“I was never terribly comfortable with the aspect of directing, but my consolation was that I was really comfortable around the actors.” - Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian on Directing God Help the Girl

“I wanted to put my own life-my personal life-[in the record] and obfuscate what I was saying as little as possible.” - Dan Snaith of Caribou

“I need to see all the parts of this world I haven’t seen before it goes completely down the shitter, and music happens to be my vehicle.” - Joseph D’Agostino of Cymbals Eat Guitars

“At the shows now, people are very scared of me. People were flinching when I came out into the audience, moving away from me.” - Sam France of Foxygen

“There’s a lot of stuff men can say, but there are some things that can only come out of a woman’s mouth.” - Riki Lindhome of Garfunkel and Oates

“I feel people aren’t really living the moment anymore; they’re commenting on the moment before the moment is even finished. That’s a thing that always worries me.” - Terry Gilliam

“If [my character Jim Gordon] wants his actions to result in the greater good, he’s going to have to cut deals with the devil.” - Ben McKenzie of Gotham

“Maybe some day I’ll have that chemical reaction in my brain where I can take a break and feel contented.” - Noel Heroux of Hooray For Earth

“I would strongly recommend people to do their second album and get married at the same time. It works.” - Jessie Ware

“I wanted to make a dance album, but I grew up a super-conservative Christian family, so Lord help you if you were dancing.” - Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond

“My dad loves our music.” - Cadien Lake James of Twin Peaks

“I tend to have a very emotional and psychological relationship with my voice.” - Zola Jesus

MAIN FEATURES

Our main features include a Retro article on ‘90s shoegaze legends Lush. Band members Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi (in a rare interview) discuss the band’s final album (1996’s Lovelife), the death of drummer Chris Acland, and the band’s breakup. Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire and the iconic Peter Gabriel interview each other.

“Lush was so tied up with Chris, and without him, it’s just really, really difficult to consider [a reunion].” - Miki Berenyi of Lush

“By the time we did that Gin Blossoms/Goo Goo Dolls tour, I think everyone had just retreated into themselves. It was just a nightmare.” - Emma Anderson of Lush

“It’s a strange phenomenon to be in an absurdly famous rock band that is in demand all the time, because on one hand, it’s super appealing and you feel like you can’t turn away from it. But at the same time there are more important things in the world than maintaining your pace and your status as a ‘famous’ rock band.” - Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire

“Songs are like people. They live and grow and die and evolve.” - Peter Gabriel

PLEASED TO MEET YOU

Our Pleased to Meet You new bands section highlights seven exciting new artists: Adult Jazz, Alvvays, Blaue Blume, Boxed In, Coves, The Death of Pop, and Total Control.

“If [a song] gives you everything you want and need and expect, there’s no risk and there’s no jeopardy.” - Harry Burgess of Adult Jazz

“I don’t really know when ‘pop’ became bad-maybe in the ‘90s or something, when people were like, ‘No more dancing, just swaying!’” - Molly Rankin of Alvvays

“I’m 24, and [our songs are] about issues faced by someone that age, having anxiety about death, and where I’m going with life.” - Jonas Smith of Blaue Blume

“Kraftwerk were responsible for inspiring all the best house and techno producers. Trying to combine the two has been quite an interesting thing.” - Oli Bayston of Boxed In

“I wouldn’t want [any of my students] to look [our band] up, and some of our videos are a bit unsuitable for kids.” - Angus James of The Death of Pop

“What if all the music I’m making is subconsciously just to be validated by the screaming masses?” - Mikey Young of Total Control

THE END

For our regular last page feature, The End, we ask a different artist the same set of questions about endings and death. Paul Banks of Interpol is this issue’s participant.

“I lost a few friends last year to illness and that was very humbling.” - Paul Banks of Interpol

REVIEWS:

Over 80 CDs, films, DVDs, TV shows, and comic books are reviewed in the issue, including reviews of releases by:

Ryan Adams

Adult Jazz

Tony Allen

alt-J

Alvvays

The Amazing Snakeheads

Ashrae Fax

Avi Buffalo

Ballet School

Basement Jaxx

Willis Earl Beal

Bear in Heaven

Beck

Bishop Allen

Childhood

Cold Specks

Coves

Cymbals Eat Guitars

Death From Above 1979

The Drums

Electric Würms

Electric Youth

Engineers

Esben and the Witch

Ex Hex

Orenda Fink

FKA twigs

Foxygen

Goat

Robyn Hitchcock

Hooray For Earth

Lia Ices

Interpol

Marketa Irglova

James

The Juan MacLean

Jungle

Kele

Sondre Lerche

Jenny Lewis

Johnny Marr

J Mascis

Merchandise

Music Go Music

My Brightest Diamond

The New Pornographers

Karen O

Oasis

Sinead O’Connor

Christopher Owens

Owl John

Richard Reed Parry

Perfume Genius

The Phantom Band

The Rentals

The Rosebuds

Rustie

SBTRKT

Ty Segall

Philip Selway

Shabazz Palaces

Simian Mobile Disco

The Smashing Pumpkins

Spoon

Teleman

Tennis

Total Control

Tricky

Twin Peaks

The Vaselines

Scott Walker and Sunn O)))

White Fence

Wire

Wunder Wunder

Zola Jesus

DIGITAL MAGAZINE:

The digital version of the issue (available via iTunes and Zinio, and for iPads, iPhones, Macs, and PCs) also features extra articles not found in the print magazine, including interviews with The Amazing Snakeheads, The Rentals, and Wunder Wunder. The digital version also contains bonus Q&As not found in the print edition with alt-J, Terry Gilliam, and Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian.

“I didn’t sing in front of anyone [when I was younger], because I was embarrassed. I didn’t want anyone to think, ‘Poor guy. He thinks he can sing, but he sounds like he’s dying.’” - Joe Newman of alt-J

“I started out in masonry, but I had to have music in my life, so I started writing, and it’s been the only thing that’s fueled me in my life.” - Dale Barclay of The Amazing Snakeheads

“[Film is] such a nice art form. I tend to embrace something as it’s dying out; I know that television is the medium of choice these days, that even people in Hollywood kind of say that.” - Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian

“People are so frightened to do anything out of the ordinary at the moment. That’s part of why I worry about the modern world.” - Terry Gilliam

“I wanted to make the definitive Rentals record.” - Matt Sharp of The Rentals

The digital version also includes 80+ bonus reviews not found in the print magazine, including releases by the following artists:

Beach Day

Andrew Bird

The Black Keys

Boris Blank

Bleachers

Anna Calvi

Chrome

Circulatory System

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

John Coltrane

Common

Craft Spells

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Delta Spirit

Lana Del Rey

Diplo

EDJ

The Fresh & Onlys

Got A Girl

Grumbling Fur

Gulp

Half-Handed Cloud

Neil Hamburger

Happyness

Hercules & Love Affair

Honeyblood

Hundred Waters

Ice Cream Cathedral

La Roux

Lowell

Lower

Manic Street Preachers

Morrissey

Mozart’s Sister

Peter Murphy

Naomi Punk

OOIOO

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Pixies

The Proper Ornaments

The Raveonettes

S

Sia

She Keeps Bees

The Skygreen Leopards

Malka Spigel

A Sunny Day in Glasgow

Syd Arthur

Sylvan Esso

Alexis Taylor

The Vacant Lots

Jack White

White Fence

White Lung

Anand Wilder & Maxwell Kardon

Woods

James Yorkston

Zammuto

Click here to buy the print version of the issue.

Click here to subscribe to the print version of Under the Radar.

Click here to buy the digital version of the issue (via iTunes and for iPads andiPhones).

Click here to subscribe to the digital version of Under the Radar (via iTunes and for iPads andiPhones).

Click here for a list of U.S. stores that carry Under the Radar.

Interviews
Adult Jazz
Alvvays
Avi Buffalo
Bear in Heaven
Ben McKenzie of Gotham
Blaue Blume
Boxed In
Caribou – Dan Snaith on Making An Album for His Fans
Caribou – Hiding in Plain Sight
Coves
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Foxygen on Their Sprawling Album and Scaring Audiences
Garfunkel and Oates on Their IFC Show - Season Finale Airs Tonight
Jessie Ware
Lush - Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson on 1996 Album “Lovelife” and the Last Days of the Band
My Brightest Diamond
Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire vs. Peter Gabriel
Terry Gilliam
The Death of Pop
The Rentals
Total Control
Twin Peaks
Zola Jesus
alt-J - The Under the Radar Cover Story
alt-J - The Under the Radar Cover Story Bonus Q&A

 

Reviews
...And Star Power
1,000 Times Good Night
20,000 Days On Earth
A New Testament
Above the Dreamless Dead
Always Returning
Art and Craft
CSNY 74
Deep Fantasy
Encyclopedia
Film of Life
Flying Scroll Flight Control
Gracepoint
How the World Was
Hyperdub 10.2
Hypnotic Eye
Incredible Change-Bots Two Point Something Something
Innerworld
Into Sixes
Listen Up Philip
Mended With Gold
Monster & Madman
Mulaney
Nobody’s Smiling
Oasis: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?: Chasing the Sun Edition
Playland
Season Sun
Soused
Taiga
The Flash
The Flash Vol. 4: Reverse
The Guest
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol. III): Century
The Smashing Pumpkins: Adore (Super Deluxe Edition)
The Wraith: Welcome to Christmasland
The Zero Theorem
This Is All Yours
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Blu-ray/DVD
Too Bright
Trick
V for Vaselines
Weatherhouse
Wolf in White Van
Wonder Where We Land
Wooden Head